VIDEO ROOM

Video Room has been serving the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood since 1988. We carry a large selection of movies on DVD and have an ever growing Blu-ray library. We specialize in hard-to-find and obscure cult classics, TV shows, foreign cinema, and film noir, in addition to the latest new releases. Check out our large Directors section and offbeat categories that make us unique. Kids and dogs are welcome. Senior discounts available. We do same day reservations. Free parking. Hours: Sunday-Thurday, 12pm-8pmFriday-Saturday, 12pm-9pm

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

New Releases - April 9, 2013

Blu-rays:Hemingway & Gellhorn [Exciting and well-acted telling of the tumultuous romance/marriage between writer Ernest Hemingway and journalist Martha Gellhorn as they cover the Spanish Civil War. Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman are great in the leads and were nominated for several awards. Bay Area filmmaker Philip Kaufman (Invasion of the Body Snatches, The Unbearable Lightness of Being) directed this beautifully shot action drama that was shown on HBO in 2012.]Shorts HD Presents: Oscar Winning Short Films [Fun compilation of recent shorts that won Oscars: God of Love, New Tenants, Toyland, West Bank Story, The Lost Thing, Logorama, The Danish Poet, Ryan and Harvie Krumpet.]DVDs:Boss: Season 2 [Kelsey Grammar once again dominates this compelling cable TV series as the powerful mayor of Chicago who keeps control of the city while hiding his brain disease. Connie Nielsen, Jeff Hephner, Kathleen Robertson, and Troy Garity also return for this second and final season.]Case Histories [British TV[ [Jason Isaacs (The Patriot, Harry Potter) gives a magnetic performance in this limited British TV series as an ex-soldier and ex-cop turned private investigator specializing in cold and/or offbeat cases. 2011.]Down the Shore [James Gandolfini (HBO's The Sopranos, Killing Them Softly) gives a solid performance in this drama as an owner of a rundown amusement park whose life is turned upside down when French stranger Edoardo Costa shows up carrying his sister's ashes and claiming to be her husband. Famke Janssen, Joe Pope, and John Magaro also star. Harold Guskin directed.]Dreams of a Life [Fascinating documentary about a young woman who was found dead in her London flat three years after her death with the TV still running. This offbeat thriller explores how she went undiscovered until authorities forced into her flat for lack of rent payment. Directed by Carol Morley and featuring Zawe Ashton, Alix Luka-Cain, and Cornell S. John.]Hemingway & Gellhorn [Exciting and well-acted telling of the tumultuous romance/marriage between writer Ernest Hemingway and journalist Martha Gellhorn as they cover the Spanish Civil War. Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman are great in the leads and were nominated for several awards. Bay Area filmmaker Philip Kaufman (Invasion of the Body Snatches, The Unbearable Lightness of Being) directed this beautifully shot action drama that was shown on HBO in 2012.]Injustice [British TV] [James Purefoy (the deliciously evil cult villain on TV's The Following) gives another fine performance as a London defense barrister who decides to move to the country calm of Suffolk and finds himself defending a friend in a homicide case that also ensnares him. Dervia Kirwan (Ballykissangel), Charlie Creed-Miles (Five Days) and Nathaniel Parker (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries) also star in this five part limited British TV series.]Into the Cold: A Journey of the Soul [This beautiful documentary follows noted environmental advocate, photographer, and polar traveler Sebastian Copeland as he embarks on a grueling two month expedition to the North Pole. Copeland also directed this film with appearances by Keith Heger and Leonardo DiCaprio.]John Dies at the End [Futuristic cult comedy about a drug called Soy Sauce that promises an out of this world experience. The problem is that when some of the users return they are not human any more, possibly signaling an alien invasion. Cult director Don Coscarelli (Bubba-Ho-Tep, Phantasm) made this wacky sci-fi satire starring Rob Mayes, Chase Williamson, Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown. Great title!]Kidnap and Ransom: The Complete Series 1 & 2 [British TV] [Trevor Eve (Waking the Dead) plays a master hostage negotiator in this taut British TV crime series. Helen Baxendale, Natasha Little, John Hannah, Sharon Small and Patrick Baladi also star.]Love Free or Die [Moving and topical documentary about Bishop Gene Robinson whose two defining passions are at odds: his love of God and for his partner Mark. Directed by Macky Alston.]Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Season 1 [Glossy and thoroughly enjoyable Australian TV crime series starring beautiful Essie Davis in the title role, a headstrong female detective who flirts with danger and men in 1920's Melbourne. Natahan Page also stars as the worried detective inspector who tries his best to watch over her whether she likes it or not.]Pray the Devil Back to Hell [Amazing documentary detailing how the women of Liberia stopped a bloody civil war via peaceful methods. Thousands of Liberian women, Christian and Muslim, protested in front of the Presidential Palace and prayed for peace until a resolution was created. Gini Reticker directed.]Shorts HD Presents: Oscar Winning Short Films [Fun compilation of recent shorts that won Oscars: God of Love, New Tenants, Toyland, West Bank Story, The Lost Thing, Logorama, The Danish Poet, Ryan and Harvie Krumpet.]Sinking of the Laconia, The [British TV] [Stirring British TV miniseries re-creating the tragic sinking of the British ship Laconia by a German U-boat that was unaware that it was carrying over 2000 passengers during WWII. Liwe Jackson directed, and Ken Duken, Franka Potente, Andrew Buchan, Lindsay Duncan and Brian Cox star.]Sweeney, The [Exhilarating British action thriller starring Ray Winstone as the leader of the Flysing Squad, a tough police division that tries to catch armed robbers even when it means bending the rules. The latter also goes for their messy personal lives. Hayley Atwell (Captain America), rapper Ben Drew, and Damian Lewis (Showtime's Homeland lead) also star in this hit based on a popular British TV series. 2012.]

Waking the Dead: Season 7 [The popular British cold case TV crime series returns with 6 compelling mysteries. Trevor Eve, Sue Johnston, Will Johnson and Tara Fitzgerald star.]Without Motive: Seasons 1 and 2 [British TV] [Ross Kemp stars as a frustrated head detective in this 2-part British TV series in which the murder of a young Bristol woman leads to a serial killer who kills without any apparent motive and creates chaos within the fractured and over-worked police department. Kenneth Cranham also stars. Part one deals with the search for the serial killer while part two tackles a copycat. 2000.]Womb [This controversial 2010 sci-fi-tinged dramatic thriller stars stunning beauty Eva Green (Casino Royale, The Dreamers) as a young woman who reunites with her childhood friend Matt Smith years later and ignites a passionate affair that is cut short by a tragic accident that takes his life. However, Green is so much in love with him that she wants to create his clone in her womb post-mortem, so she goes to a company that will help her create a clone from a DNA sample with his parents' blessing. Things do not go as planned. Directed by Benedek Fliegauf and co-starring Lesley Manville and Peter Wight.]Notes by Manager Steven Y. Mori.